Things I asked the DevAd hiring manager before verbally accepting the intern offer

As I prepare for my third and last internship before graduation, I thought it would help to articulate details I needed to know about a role before signing my soul away.

I had the luxury of meeting with my future manager a few times before making my decision, so I made sure each call was productive and insightful since I only had those moments to decide if vibes check out.

What is the intern project?

I've learned to run for the hills when a hiring manager is extremely vague or even unsure about what they want me to work on. First, it comes off open-minded and flexible which is really intriguing. But then I find myself gaslit and working on something I absolutely did not want to do.

I'd love to know:

• What product I'll be working with
• What specific topics I'll be covering
• What my final project will be

I've narrowed my choices of employers based on (1) products that interest me and (2) projects assigned. I learned I don't make a good sellout, and there was no way I'd make a decent devad if I wasn't working on something I enjoyed.

Why are you hiring an intern specifically on this team?

I was once brought onto a team as an impromptu intern (ie. they made my role because I was referred). During my first week, I approached my manager with a list of clarifying questions including "What are your expectations of me in order to get a return offer on this team?" (Something I was taught to ask early on and a previous internship had addressed on my first day) Had I not asked this, I probably wouldn't have ever learned that this team wasn't even hiring.

That conversation turned into a real sh!t show, but my point is: Please don't bring an intern on without intent to keep them.

Is mentorship offered? If yes, what's your style?

When hearing about my classmates who interned at Amazon, I envied the kind of mentorship they received. It was very organized and systematic, and expectations of the mentor were crystal clear. I never felt like I really had that. It's not their fault; none of my assigned mentors were given instructions on how to contribute to my internships. Some of them didn't even know what being a mentor entailed.

Ideally I would like an empathetic mentor(s) who can:

• willingly take on questions
• train me but understand I'm likely unable to perform at their level in the time I'm interning
• help unblock me after I've tried to solve a problem
• offer constructive feedback (I don't want to think I'm doing fine then get blindsided)
• offer the amount of guidance I need
• carve out time to have involved 1:1's; if they're busy, we can move it (I don't want a mentor who is constantly working on other things every time we meet while I'm trying to talk to them)

What are the expectations to get a return offer?

I was once told it was "extremely off-putting" that I had asked about what is expected of me in order to get a return offer because it came off "entitled that I even thought it was a possibility to return to the team." I hated that I tip-toed around this question for countless talks every since, but I've spoken to enough people now to confirm that that isn't an offensive question and it's completely normal to want to know this information.

I asked if we could establish some metrics we can refer to (e.g. How many videos am I expected to make?), so I have some level of self-awareness. I get that solely reaching a count isn't all it takes, but I just want some way of knowing how much I've done and how much I have left to do.

Are you crazy? (Please don't ask this verbatim)

"I just wanted to make sure you're not crazy."

Lacks context but yes...I did actually say the above sentence verbatim.

Admittedly, it was unnecessarily vulnerable to share my story about being expected to work normally after 3 deaths in my family during a past internship. I'm sure there were other ways to find out whether my next boss understands that "life happens" and I'm a human-being before I'm an employee.

My point is: this was important to me, and I needed some reasurrance that I was going to work for a reasonable person.

Wrap up

When I got the offer, I had already chosen the company based on their size, pay, benefits, etc. The only thing left was choosing my manager.

My key determining factors when deciding on a manager were their:

• assigned project
• purpose for hiring an intern
• mentorship style
• expectations
• response to emergencies

Can't wait to share my journey as a DevAd intern at Snowflake starting in February!